@techreport{Currie2004Child,
abstract = {In an influential study Case et al. (2002) documented a positive relationship between family
income and child health in the US, with the slope of the gradient being larger for older than
younger children. In this paper we explore the child health income gradient in England, which
has a comprehensive publicly-funded National Health Service (NHS) founded on the twin
principles of health care being free at the point of delivery and equality of access for the
whole population. Our analysis is based on a sample of over 13,000 children (and their
parents) drawn from the Health Survey for England. In accordance with Case et al. (2002),
we find consistent and robust evidence of a significant family income gradient in child health
using the subjective general health status measure. However, in England the size of the
gradient is considerably smaller than that found for the US and we find no evidence that its
slope increases with child age. We also provide new evidence that nutrition and family
lifestyle choices have an important role in determining child health and that child health
outcomes are highly correlated within the family. In addition, we find no evidence of an
income gradient for objective indicators of child health, derived from nurse measurements
and blood test results. Together our evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the NHS
has a protective effect on the health of children in England.},
author = {Alison Currie and Michael A. Shields and Stephen Wheatley Price},
copyright = {http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/Nutzungsbedingungen},
keywords = {I1; 330; child health; income gradient; chronic illness; nutrition; lifestyle; Kinder; Gesundheit; Haushaltseinkommen; Ern\"{a}hrung; Lifestyle; Sch\"{a}tzung; Grossbritannien},
language = {eng},
number = {1328},
title = {Is the Child Health / Family Income Gradient Universal? : Evidence from England},
type = {IZA Discussion paper series},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10419/20596},
year = {2004}
}